Words and photos by Buddy Trivette

After five years and numerous runner-up finishes, Ric Fleck and his Flex Racing Team finally got their first Quick 8 Outlaws trophy. Not only did they get the win but they also posted their career best time with a 3.949 in the first round of eliminations on April 15 at Darlington, SC.

"I just want to say how impressed I am with the crew," said Fleck. "We struggled through the first two rounds of qualifying and that didn’t faze us at all. We knew that the car would do it. We went a to b in the third round and ended up number two qualifier. Devon, Mike and Charlie did a heck of a job today. They’ve all done a heck of a job for years and today we finally got the win. It wasn’t the best way to get a win but we finally won one of these."

After the third and final round of qualifying Danny Blankenship in ‘40 Ford sat atop the sheet and picked up the Tommy Mauney Race Cars number one qualifier award.

"The TM Race Cars ‘40 Ford ran good tonight. We tried a few new things today and they didn’t work too well through the first two rounds of qualifying. We changed a couple of things and backed it down and ran the 3.90 in the final round," said Blankenship. “All my guys worked hard all day and I really appreciate it.

“The car makes a ton of power and still has a lot more potential. The blower that we have now is very strong but we have a new one coming from Chuck Ford that is going to be a fair amount better,” he added.

Fleck came out in the #2 spot with a 3.953 at 184.69. Steve Bray, after setting his new personal best by running his first three-second pass, was #3 with a 3.978 at 183.78 mph. Dennis Jordan was 4th with a 4.020 at 163.30. Kerry "Possum" Crosby sat 5th with a 4.416 at 136.05. Carol Long was 6th with a 4.619 at 113.15. Tylor Miller was 7th with a 4.841 at 105.37 and rounding out the eight-car field was Robbie Matthews with a 5.390 at 91.14.

The first pair up in eliminations was Jordan and Crosby. The tree activated and Crosby got to the stripe first with a 4.237 at 159.59 to Jordan’s 4.315 at 132.84. Not all was well with the Jordan camp. After the first round it was discovered that the crankshaft in their Hemi was broken in five places.

Next up was supposed to be Bray and Long, but Bray couldn’t make the call after they found a hurt piston in their engine so Troy Jordan was put in as first alternate. He was able to get the win and advance to the next round.

In the next pair, Miller had the advantage off the line but the car drifted on him. He tried to pedal it but Fleck was able to drive around him with his personal best time, a 3.949 at 184.46, to Miller’s 4.378 at 130.02.

The final pair pitted the #1 qualifier, Danny Blankenship, and the #8 man, Robbie Matthews. On paper this race wasn’t going to be close as the Kauffman Motorsports team had failed to make a full pass in thirteen tries. When the tree went from amber to green Matthews got the advantage and didn’t look back. Blankenship’s Ford lost traction while the black ‘57 that Matthews was piloting streaked to stripe first with a new personal best and low ET of the event. The boards lit up with a 3.843 at 194.42, which is a new Darlington Dragway Roots Blower Record. Blankenship coasted through the lights with a 4.323 at 126.93 mph.